Home Cooking

Times' food critic Frank Bruni hits both New York ballparks, rates the chow, and emerges pretty unsatisfied. Though it sounds like the eats are a mixed bag, Danny Meyer seems to at least prove that mass quantity food can be served with excellent attention to quality (Shake Shack, duh), though Bruni takes him to task for the predictable thirty minute wait. Frank should know that's only five minutes longer than we waited at Yankee Stadium on Day 2 for a bleepin' Nathan's hot dog, so this blogger isn't inclined to pin this only on this one proprietor.

It sounds like with a little focus, some re-jiggered recipes, and a little editing, the new parks can provide some quality niche products for those who want more than the traditional hot dog. Which, full disclosure, is our own preference.

do what i do…get there early and eat outside the ballpark…beer’s cheaper too…having said that, i also have a beer or 2 inside…but waiting for food at any ballpark is annoying at best, and much worse depending on whether or not you miss important action on the field, which is, well, the reason we’re there to begin with…waiting 25 minutes for a hot dog is, um, not fun, i’ll bet…

dcMay 27, 2009, 10:40 am

Just do what my girlfriend and I do: I buy the tickets, she buys the food/beer. Food and alcohol without missing the game. Great success.

AtheoseMay 27, 2009, 10:53 am

That second graph doesn’t follow. Just because one restaurateur can serve at a large scale – but with that long wait – it doesn’t entail that other chefs, and with different eats, can. Basically, of all the things Bruni ate, only Meyer stood out. That’s an exception not a rule. In order for there to be hope, I think we should at least expect a few decent dishes at each stadium.
Glad to know a good critic sampled the fare so I don’t have to. And with the Yankees completely running the edible show at their park, I don’t expect much to change.

RobMay 27, 2009, 11:03 am

Oh, New Yankee Stadium…only a few months old, yet you have given us enough to discuss for decades.
OTT from the food stuff, seems like good a place as any to discuss the ongoing NYS Park Effects Saga (quick link: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/parkfactor?sort=runsFactor&season=2009):
Despite all the hand-wringing over the high homerun yield (it is indeed high – highest in the majors), it only ranks 10th for yielding runs (Fenway is 11th, and has yielded basically .05 less runs per game than NYS so far – which averages out to something like one less run every 20 games). Basically New Yankee park yields home runs but supresses doubles (ranks 28th in MLB – Fenway first in that category) and triples. So despite all the indignation from Hall of Fame baseball writers, it’s not really a joke of a hitters’ park – it’s yielded only about 8 percent more runs per game than league average. Coors Field, for example, yields 40 percent more runs than average – so it’s not Coors Field East. Hell, it’s not even Rangers Ballpark East (23 percent more runs/game).

Mark - YFMay 27, 2009, 12:00 pm

More like Fenway West?

RobMay 27, 2009, 12:19 pm

On the food: I’ve now sampled at both parks.
-The pretzel i had at YS was inedible garbage. The lemonade tainted sugar water. awful.
-I disagree with Bruni re the Shack Burger. With the aside that I’ve never really been that enamored with this even in Madison Sq Park (it’s good, but hardly the best in the city), my CitiFIeld version was nowhere near what you get in Manhattan. It didn’t have that salt/pepper crust, and was on the soggy side. The fries were cold and mealy, and if you don’t believe me you can confirm it with the Futility Infielder himself, who was there with me. The line, also, was about 16 minutes, at the height of the rush. no complaints there. you can watch the game on a big video board.